- Summary
- A 1957 BBC Television presentation of a 15-minute excerpt from The Mousetrap, transmitted from the Ambassadors Theatre, London, and introduced by Richard Attenborough, a member of the original 1952 cast. With this performance, The Mousetrap became the longest running straight play in the history of the British theatre, a record previously held by Blithe Spirit.
- Theatre play
- The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie
[more information]
- Play synopsis
- 'The play is set in the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, in "the present". Act I opens with the murder of a woman in London, played out in sound only on a dark stage. The action then moves to Monkswell Manor, recently converted to guesthouse run by a young couple, Mollie and Giles Ralston. Their first four guests arrive: Christopher Wren, Mrs. Boyle, Major Metcalf and Miss Casewell. Mrs. Boyle complains about everything, and Giles offers to cancel her stay, but she refuses the offer. They become snowed in together and read in the newspaper of the murder. An additional traveller, Mr. Paravicini, arrives stranded after he ran his car into a snowdrift, but he makes his hosts uneasy. In the next scene, the imposing Mrs. Boyle complains to the other guests, first to Metcalf and then to Miss Casewell, who both try to get away from her. Wren comes into the room claiming to have fled Mrs. Boyle in the library. Shortly afterwards, the police call on the phone, creating great alarm amongst the guests. Mrs. Boyle suggests that Mollie check Wren’s references. Detective Sergeant Trotter arrives on skis to inform the group that he believes a murderer is at large and on his way to the hotel, following the death of Mrs Maureen Lyon in London. When Mrs Boyle is killed, they realise that the murderer is already there. Act II opens ten minutes later, where the investigation is ongoing. Each character is scrutinised and suspected. Mollie and Giles get into a fight, and Chris Wren and Giles argue over who should protect Mollie. Suspicion falls first on Christopher Wren, an erratic young man who fits the description of the supposed murderer. However, it quickly transpires that the killer could be any one of the guests, or even the hosts themselves. The characters re-enact the second murder, trying to prevent a third. At last, Sergeant Trotter assembles everyone in the hall with the plan to set a trap for one of the suspects.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mousetrap#Plot.
- Production history
- 'The play began life as a short radio play broadcast on 30 May 1947 called Three Blind Mice in honour of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. The play had its origins in the real-life case of the death of a boy, Dennis O’Neill, who died while in the foster care of a Shropshire farmer and his wife in 1945. The play is based on a short story, itself based on the radio play, but Christie asked that the story not be published as long as it ran as a play in the West End of London. The short story has still not been published within the United Kingdom but it has appeared in the United States in the 1950 collection Three Blind Mice and Other Stories’. It opened in the West End in 1952, and nd has been running continuously since then. It has the longest initial run of any play in history, with its 25,000th performance taking place on 18 November 2012. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mousetrap.
- Date of transmission
- Friday 13 September 1957
- Time
- 8.30-8.45pm
- Series
- Theatre Flash
- Channel
- BBC Television
- Production company
- BBC
Learning on Screen